Holiday trading is upon us and the dollar held tight, boring ranges overnight.
USD
Congress officially finished their six-week sprint to reform the tax code yesterday. A done deal had been expected for over a week so the final vote didn’t give the greenback a boost. Indeed, the U.S. dollar struggled against the Euro yesterday afternoon.
Economic data released this week has had little impact on near-term currency moves but will still be important when looking into trends for next year. The third reading of third quarter GDP showed that the economy grew 3.2%. The print was slightly lower than expectations and the previous reading, but still shows impressive growth for the U.S. economy. Personal consumption also failed to meet estimates, registering at 2.2%. A separate report showed that the Philadelphia Fed business outlook beat expectations, coming in at 26.2, from an expected 21.0 in December.
Tomorrow, personal income and personal spending as well as the PCE Deflator will cross the wires. Expect already low trading volumes to dry up even further tomorrow afternoon ahead of the Christmas Holiday. Monex will be closed Monday, December 25th and will reopen for regular business on Tuesday morning.
EUR
The Euro rose modestly throughout yesterday’s session against the U.S. dollar but was unchanged overnight. The Euro has risen for three straight days against the U.S. dollar.
We may see some jerky moves in trading over the next day and a half as trading volumes decrease. Europe will be closed on Monday, December 25th and will remain closed on December 26th. Monex will be open on the 26th and trading European pairs.
GBP
The sterling remains in familiar ranges but Brexit headlines continue to weigh on the sterling. Prime Minister Theresa May’s ally and de facto deputy, Damian Green, was sacked. Green made “misleading statements” over claims about pornography found on his office computer in 2008.
The economic docket showed that GfK Consumer confidence fell to -13, but did not materially damage the sterling.
